Background

Val posted the following in our book club forum:

"...we'll need to know the details of how Maple Edge's steers are raised just as general practice."

Our main cow herd of roughly 25 resides here at Maple Edge Farm near Hastings, Iowa. Our herd is closed, meaning we raise our own replacement heifers instead of buying them. We mainly do this to avoid importing health problems, but it serves a dual purpose here of knowing exactly where our cows (food) comes from. The only animal that we buy is our bull, which we have recently been buying from Nichols Bulls. Excluding our bull purchases over the years, I can personally vouch that our herd has been closed for over 10 years. Our older employees could probably vouch for many more decades.

Since our herd is closed, we have genetics from several different breeds: Hereford, Charolais, and Angus, to name a few. Our last three bulls have been Angus.

June & July

We turn the bull out with the heifers around Father’s Day—not intentionally; it’s just easier to remember—then with the cows around July Fourth. This means our heifers begin calving in late March and early April, with the rest of the herd following shortly thereafter. Our birth weights vary from 65 lbs (~30 kg) to 100 lbs (~45 kg), the former being a runt and the latter being a bruiser.

Two days after a calf is born, we castrate the males and tag all calves. After that, they live with their mothers and the rest of the herd, nursing (which provides the best source of nutrients) and eventually grazing on pasture. We are mainly a corn and bean operation, so we do not have enough pasture acres to support our herd full time. Therefore, we plant, raise, cut, and bale our own hay to feed to our herd.

July & August

When the pastures start to give out, we set up a creep feeding system for the calves. This basically means they have access to a pen that the cows can’t get into. In this pen they have free-choice hay, corn, water, and access to a smaller pasture. The reason for this becomes clear in early September.

September

We wean the calves from their mothers in early September. This is a particularly stressful time for the calves, which is why we try to prepare them with the creep feeding. We separate the pairs with panel fencing, so they can see, hear, and smell each other, theoretically reducing stress. Both the calves and cows put up a racket for a few days, but after the fourth, the cows have gone back out to pasture, largely forgetting about their pesky kids. This is the moment in time when NPOV’s beef steer will probably diverge from his herd mates.

At weaning time, our calves typically weigh an average of 400 lbs (~181 kg). Their main purpose in life is now to gain about 2 lbs (.91 kg) every day. This requires an enormous amount of calories, which is where corn comes in. Of all feedstuffs, corn provides the most at about 900 calories for every pound. Calorie demand rises as the calves gain weight, so you start to get an idea of how much food they require. Pollan generally pans the use and excessive use of corn in feeding out cattle, so this might be a point of contention.

A few weeks after weaning, our veterinarian comes out for her annual visit to vaccinate, implant, and perform a general checkup.

January

Our calves now hopefully weigh an average of 600 lbs (~272 kg). At this time, we take them to the sale barn. Pollan helps us imagine what might happen to them after that.